Homemade Frozen Food

[Drichards]

Thank you Dong. My fish get fresh seafood, salmon, shrimp, and scallops. Our dog gets baked chicken with green beans and rice......

My dinner gets microwaved for 1:30 seconds

 

[Zirky]

Instead of a blender I use this with frozen fish, scallops, shrimp ect. It works great. Would love to get some fish or lobster eggs. If anyone knows of a source.

 

[dz6t]

Just a note, since this home made food has no water added, please feed only 1/3 to 1/4 of the size you normally feed using commercial frozen food.

 

[Mixed Reefer]

I have been asked this question often and I will like to share what I feed my fish and coral.

First of all, when fish meat and seafood are blended together into a mush, it doesn’t matter if the meaty substance is from salmon, whitefish, or “Puff the magic dragon”. It just plain solid wholesome goodness.

Second, I don’t know why people are feeding fresh water mysis shrimps to marine fish and coral, so there is no reason to add PE Mysis into the mix.

Third, by keeping it simple and use human grade fish seafood, you can be sure you are giving your beloved pets the best you can offer, not something that swept off fishing docks and blended with water.

So here we go the simple way to make your fish and coral happy:

1 part of raw salmon
1 part of raw shrimp
1 part of raw scallops (optional)

Soak in tap water for 15 minutes then rinse well in the sink to remove phosphate coating (seafood and fish are required by law to coated with phosphate in order to suppress bacteria growth to meet safety standards)

Steal the favorite blender from your significant other, if you don’t have a significant other, go steal one from your mother. Put the above mentioned raw material in the blender Without adding any water, then blend the ingredients into mush.

Scoop the mush into ziplock bags and pat them flat, put them in the freezer.

This stuff is potent so only feed a small amount to your fish tank.
For tangs, supplement with dry pellets.

Last, wash the blender over and over again or you will be sleeping in the garage (or the homeless shelter nears you).

Here is what my homemade frozen food looks like:
View attachment 190745

Another tip on chopping or blending your seafood into small tidbits for your reef inhabitants is to make sure the pieces of seafood are approximately the same size. After prepping soak in RODI and Drain like Dong mentioned . Then put in freezer on parchment paper and semi freeze, to the point where it’s pliable. This will make it cut so much easier. Trust me
Has anyone recorded any nutrient reduction using fresh seafood versus frozen? What’s any of your experience?
Thanks @dz6t

 

[dz6t]

Theoretically there should not be significant differences between frozen and fresh sea food. Many sea food are flash freeze upon harvesting and thaw in the stores before selling.
I keep the salmon and shrimp in the freezer and thaw them out before making smoothie.

 

[Ptreef]

Anyone add garlic to the mix? Does it improve feeding etc. Not that it sounds necessary. Any other additives worth considering for ease/health? Spirulina?

 

[dz6t]

by seeing how fish wolf down these food, I don’t think garlic is needed.

 

[Dave T]

I'm going to give this a try, thanks Dong!

For extra credit, I'm going to try making cubes using these. Seems like it would make it easier to feed, and you can be more precise about portion control. Instead of thawing, I think I'll just pop the cubes in my plank feeder tubes like I do with frozen mysis cubes. The food thaws very quickly and is dispensed into the water column by the plank pumps.

Question - would there be any value to adding any nutrition supplements to the sludge you make?

And is it not an issue using it to target feed corals in a tank full of fish? I'd think the fish would steal the food before the coral got to eat it. I'm not target feeding my corals yet, but I think I'd like to start.

 

[dz6t]

You can target feed coral and due to the fine mush it is, there will be plenty of particles floating around to keep fish busy.
You definitely can add supplements to this food.

 

[Dave T]

So I tried this yesterday. I wanted a 50/50 mix of salmon and shrimp. Market basket only had the shelled frozen shrimp in 2 pound bags, so I made 4 pounds of this goop. Perhaps too much! I made cubes of some, using these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q3KQCFJ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

These cube trays are excellent for this purpose. The cubes popped right out, and are about the exact size of the frozen food cubes we're used to.

I'm not sure about using a blender though. Particles of shrimp survived the blender, but the salmon was liquified. I think this would be great for target feeding (or broadcast feeding) corals, but if you use it to feed fish, I wonder if too much of it will go uneaten and enter the water column. Perhaps a binding agent like gelatin or agar would help with this? Otherwise, maybe Zirky's idea of using a cheese grater is better. Or a food mill - I have one of those for grinding grain...

Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I0MGKE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[thrillreefer]

This does seem tempting given how expensive frozen fish food is relative to grocery seafood. What about blending the shrimp or any tougher ingredients first, then adding the softer ones like salmon and give them a quick buzz to chop but not liquefy?

 

[Dave T]

That might work in a food processor. The problem with the blender is that the blades are at the bottom, so it takes a while for it to grab everything you put in there. By the time it's all blended, most/all of it has been liquified.

 

[dz6t]

The “blender” I use looks more like a “chopper”.
Ninja Food Chopper Express Chop with 200-Watt, 16-Ounce Bowl for Mincing, Chopping, Grinding, Blending and Meal Prep (NJ110GR) https://a.co/d/fm90HAU

 

[Dave T]

That does look better than a blender. So the salmon isn't liquified using that?

 

[dz6t]

That does look better than a blender. So the salmon isn't liquified using that?

Nope, just finely mushed

 

[JordanLess]

I really appreciate you sharing your homemade fish and coral food recipe; it's always inspiring to see the dedication of aquarium enthusiasts! Personally, I recently ventured into the world of powdered beets, and it's been an intriguing culinary experiment. The earthy sweetness it brings to dishes is surprisingly delightful. Your recipe not only ensures the well-being of your aquatic companions but also highlights the importance of using high-quality ingredients. It's a testament to your commitment to providing the best for them.

 

[dz6t]

I really appreciate you sharing your homemade fish and coral food recipe; it's always inspiring to see the dedication of aquarium enthusiasts!

Thank you very much.
One thing I will like to share is that this home made frozen food is a lot more potent than commercial frozen food as it has no added water, I will recommend feed 1/3 or 1/4 of the amount compared to commercial frozen foods. Over feeding of any frozen food contributes greatly to algae issues. If you have any algae issue, cut down or temporarily stop feeding any frozen foods till the issue is resolved.

 

[Mike Lemming]

I tried this yesterday and my fish seem to love it. I have a leopard wrasse who usually only picks the mysis out of the blend I feed but hes eating everything in the homemade food. So far so good! Thanks Dong!

 

[dz6t]

Great to hear!

 

[kgstei]

I use a food processor to make mine and one of the things I like about it is that you end up with a mixture of different size morsels. The big fish tend to go for the big pieces first which leaves plenty of little pieces for the smaller fish. Once the big pieces are gone the big fish will eat little tiny pieces as well but everybody gets some